Fantasy Baseball Today - Chas McCormick Keeps Raking, Skubal vs. Maeda & Rookie Hitter Updates (7/25 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: July 25, 2023

Cristopher Sanchez completed seven innings for the first time in his career (1:11). ... Dean Kremer or Graham Ashcraft (5:26)? ... That Rangers-Astros game was wild (8:06)! Chas McCormick keeps raking. ... Elly De La Cruz destroyed another baseball (14:18). ... Tarik Skubal or Kenta Maeda (16:21)? ... Drop Jon Gray (22:17)? What's wrong with Yu Darvish? ... The Tigers young hitters are performing well in July (27:47). ... News (34:18): Jose Altuve might not need a rehab assignment. ... What's the latest on Luis Matos, Oscar Colas and other rookie hitters (40:22)? ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates, streamers and Team Name Tuesday (52:30). Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Get awesome Fantasy Baseball Today merch here: http://bit.ly/3y8dUqi Follow FBT on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fbtpod?_t=8WyMkPdKOJ1&_r=1 Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Well, fantasy becomes reality. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. So would you rather have rest of season, Kent and Maeda, or Terrick Scuba? Let's find out.

Welcome into Fantasy Baseball today on Tuesday, July 25th. I am Frank Sample, joined by Scott White. Today on the show, we've got starting pitcher questions. I'm going to check in on some rookie hitters we haven't talked about in a while, Ellie De LaCruz, Drama, and much more. Before we get started, please like this video and subscribe on YouTube if you haven't already. And if you're listening on the audio side, download, follow, and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify. We really do appreciate it.

Let's jump in. Can you believe it? Wow. Wow, Scott. You are here. And we are ready. Who is your player of the night? I'm going to do Christopher.

Christopher Sanchez is the specific Christopher I'm talking about. He had a great start. He had a great start against a great lineup and Orioles lineup. A first place Orioles lineup, it turns out. Went seven innings, struck out eight, walked nobody, that only two runs. He got 12 swinging. strikes on 92 pitches.

Ten of them came on the change-up. Ten of the 12 swinging strikes on the change-up. And that has been his best pitch pretty clearly by every metric. So I think it's notable that Christopher Sanchez turned in his best start here against the Orioles, throwing that best pitch 38% of the time. Normally it's 28% of the time. So he leaned on that best pitch more, got good results. That's what we like to see.

Am I moved to pick? up Christopher Sanchez based on this performance. It's true that he's had a string of pretty decent starts here. The thing I'm skeptical about those, if you look at Christopher Sanchez's minor league numbers in the Phillies organization, not particularly impressive. What stands out most is so far in the majors, he has 1.3 walks per nine. So he has had pristine control in order to achieve what he has. it was 5.3 walks per 9 at AAA.

A complete about phase, 1.3 versus 5.3 walks per 9. I think that's reason for skepticism. But the change-up does look pretty interesting, as I pointed out, and we'll see where Christopher Sanchez takes it from here. I would agree, Scott. There are some questions here. It was a great start for Christopher Sanchez, the first time he's completed seven innings in his career.

And as you mentioned, leaning on that change-up, does he have enough in the arsenal? That's something I worry about too. Obviously, this change up is a great pitch. Entering Monday 154 batting average against a 37% whiff rate, but he throws a 92 mile per hour sinker. He has a what seems to be a solid slider, which has a 30% width rate as well.

So I question A, does he have enough in the arsenal? B, can he maintain that control? As you mentioned, 3.1 walks per 9 in his career. That's way down to 1.3 walks per 9 this season. and Sanchez is up to 35% roster. I think some people picked him up for the two starts this week. I think in a points league, Scott, you could probably make a pretty good case because he does have that RP eligibility.

And, you know, right now he is the hot hand. He's pitching pretty well. So in a points league, if you need a relief pitcher, I think that makes some sense. But there is some skepticism involved there with Christopher Sanchez. I would definitely rather have Seth Lugo, if we're talking about RP eligible SPs. I'm sure he's more available than Sanchez, but he's still pretty available. I mean, I'm sure he's less available than Sanchez, but he's still pretty available. I think he's around 50 or 60% rostered, Seth Lugo is, but, you know, I was thinking just now about Sparps.

And obviously, look, Shrider is head and shoulders above everyone else. And then you have Hunter Brown, who's, you know, kind of coming back down to Earth over the past month or so. But after that, there's not really many reliable names, right? You mentioned Seth Lugo. I would say he's probably the third most usable sparp right now. But after that, it might be Christopher Sanchez, honestly. Yeah, Garrett Whitlock was coming along there, but then he got hurt, obviously. So he's out of the running.

Let me just check my RP rankings real quick to make sure I'm not overlooking any other potential spartes. I opened my SP rankings. That's not going to help. Yeah, I mean, Jordan Hicks is a reverse sparp. He's an R-PASP. Yeah, I have Seth Lugo number three here and Finn No Clear number four. So Christopher Sanchez might grab that spot by default.

Yeah, I think that makes sense. It wasn't a great night for WaverWire pitchers. We will talk about Scoobal and Kentimaita, but those guys are more than 80% rostered at this point. The other two names that I had written down here with Sanchez, Dean Kramer turned in his third. seven inning quality start of the season. He was opposing Christopher Sanchez,

seven innings, one run, eight strikeouts. I lied, that was three strikeouts with eight swinging strikes, excuse me. I think he's a streamer in the most basic sense. He's got a mid-four ZRA, a 131 whip for Dean Kramer, but, you know, he pitches for a good team. He's 76% rostered. Graham Ashcraft has now allowed two earned runs or fewer in five straight starts.

He was at the Brewers, five and a third innings. Two runs, four walks, Eight strikeouts? All right, that's pretty good. He tied a career high with those eight strikeouts in this start. Scott, anything to see here with Dean Kramer and Graham Ashcraft. Not going to get involved with Ashcraft, even though he's done a good job preventing runs recently.

As was the case early this season, pretty bad strikeout and walk rate while he's preventing those runs. And in the end, I don't think it's going to add up to anything worthwhile. Kramer's an interesting case. he's maybe the most representative pitcher of the entire pitcher of the entire pitcher marketplace this year because his starts are so two-faced. So he's on an eight-start stretch here,

Dean Kramer is with a 4-14 ERA. You probably wouldn't like to have him in your lineup during that eight-start stretch in a roto league, let's say, having to deal with a 4-14 ERA for that. eight-start stretch. But within that eight-start stretch, he has five starts in which he's allowed to earn runs or fewer. He has five starts in which he's gone six innings or more. They mostly overlap. There was one five-inning, two-run start. There was one six-ending three-run start. But you get the idea. Six of his eight starts were pretty good. And then two were terrible. So he has a

four-14 ERA during that eight-start stretch. So it's easier to to embrace a pitcher like that in a head-to-head points league specifically where the peaks are high enough that you don't the valleys aren't enough to scare you away because the peaks are frequent enough to make it worthwhile

even though the the end result as I said is a 414 ERA over that eight-start stretch. Yeah I think in a Categories league it's you know there there's lots of risk to the ratios there but you know as you mentioned

in a points league with Dean Kramer could throw him out there in the right matchups. Oh my goodness gracious for me. Crazy game between the Rangers and the Astros. I'm just going to talk about the entire game. Back and forth, much like that. Diamondbacks and Braves game recently too. So the Rangers go up to zip in the top of the first.

The Astros answer back with four runs in the bottom of the first. Rangers then take a 5-4 lead in the second inning. Astros would tie the game 6-6 in the 5th. Rangers go up 9 to 6 in the 7th inning. Astros then hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the seven, so we're tied 9-9 going into the ninth inning. Astros would eventually walk it off with a single in the ninth inning, so they win this game 10 to 9.

We'll start off on the Rangers side of things. Josh Young went 2-4-5 with his 20th home run. Travis Janowski, 2-4-5 with a run and RBI. He is batting 319 on the season, only one homer, but has 15 steals and an 812 OPS. Scott, we have not mentioned Travis Jankowski's name at all. but he is hitting well over 300. Does he matter in anything other than AL-only leagues?

I keep waiting for him to just disappear because he's been around for so long and never had a consistent role, anything close to consistent, and in whatever extended looks he's gotten in the past, hasn't done much with them. But he just seems to keep sticking around, and now he's playing most days.

it looks like he does typically sit against lefties, so that that limits his appeal. But, you know, if he's batting high in the lineup, high in the best lineup in baseball against righties while stealing plenty of bases, as has been the case, I'm not going to say he's worthless. He might be kind of Jake McCarthy-like. I'm still pretty skeptical at last,

but I've been thinking that for, what, since May? And it keeps going. I don't know. He might have some value. Yeah, so maybe a deeper mixed roto league, five outfielders, you need speed, something like that. It just has to be the right scenario to go out and add a name like Travis Jankowski. For the Astros, Alex Bregman went three for five with a double and two run scored.

The player I really wanted to focus on here, Scott, is Chaz McCormick, who went two for three with a walk and his 13th home run. He had a career high six RBI in this game. He is now batting 282 with 13 home runs, 11 steals. 10% walk rate, 26% strikeout rate. Plate discipline is solid. Last week, Chris and I spoke about Chas McCormick, and we just weren't really buying into it.

The YouTube chat kept asking us, talk about Chaz McCormick, and maybe they're onto some of this guy, because this guy just, you know, he's hot right now, and he just keeps hitting for the Astros. You know, the quality of contact is a little bit suspect here with Chaz McCormick. He's up to 55% rostered.

Your thoughts, are you buying in on this hot stretch? Well, yeah, and the expected stats don't look great. So I'm more with you and Chris than not. But he has been so hot lately, and not even really just lately. Last 39 games, Chas McCormick is batting 323 with 11 home runs, 7 steals, and OPS over 1,000. That's in nearly 40 games. And it's got him in the lineup against lefties. well as righties. In fact, his numbers are amazing against lefties.

He's doing a better, he's doing better against them than righties. He has a right-handed bat. Throes left. I thought, I thought he was left. Okay. Well, that was playing. He's one of those weird hits right but throws left, guys. Yeah. All right. Well, sorry about that. I'm an idiot. Yeah, Chas McCormick then. So he's, he's been playing every day. The way he's hit recently. leads me to believe that's going to continue. And during that 39 game stretch,

his average eggs of velocity is 90 miles per hour. I'd be interested in knowing, because it's like 88 for the season, 90 during that 39 game stretch. I'd be interested in knowing what the expected stats look like just for that stretch that he's been so productive

if they're significantly better than the full season expected stats. But I don't have that information. So I'm left to wonder. But hey, look, power, speed, and a good lineup. I don't have anything against using Chas McCormick as a hot-hand play in a five outfielder league. I wasn't able to win him in the Memorial Mag League, which is a 12-team five-outfielder league.

My $0-dollar bid wasn't enough to get him last night. Actually, I may have bid one dollar, and somebody outbid me. So, like, people are starting to pay attention. I am skeptical will continue, but when you have five outfielder spots to fill, you know, beggars can't be choosers. McCormick's been doing a lot lately. Four of the most added outfielders right now on CBS got. Chas McCormick is at the top of the list. He's up to 55% rostered.

The other three names, Alex Kirillov, who we spoke a lot about recently. Sal Freelik, who hit his first career home run on Monday, and Tyler O'Neill, who recently returned for the Cardinals. He started four straight before sitting on Monday. He did come in. He had a pinch hit three-run double, but he's down to 62% rostered. So four names there. Would you put McCormick at the top of?

of that list. McCormick versus Kirillov, Freelick, Tyler O'Neill. I would put McCormick at best third on that list. Ooh. I would put him behind Freelich and Kirillov in terms of my priorities. And yeah, I guess I'd put

McCormick ahead of O'Neill, but I believe O'Neill has more upside if we had assurances about his playing time and if he hadn't been so bad since the start of last year. And maybe we were, we will get some assurances for Tyler O'Neill around the trade deadline. I know his name is one that's come up and he's had kind of a rocky relationship here with their manager, Oliver Marmole.

So maybe either O'Neill could get moved or another outfielder on their team. That could open up playing time for him. So we'll see after the trade deadline, what that will do for Tyler O'Neill. I mentioned at the top's got some Ellie De LaCruz drama. Did you follow this, his first couple of at-bats here in this game on Monday? I did not. So, L.A. Dela Cruz, his first at bat, he hits a fly ball 405 feet to center field. Joey Weimer scales the wall, robs Ellie Dela Cruz of a home run, of a leadoff homer at the time.

Second at bat, the Brewers video board, they, sometimes they have trivia and, you know, they're trying to be funny. They're trying to troll Ellie Daler Cruz. They write on his trivia, almost hit a home run in the first inning, but didn't. And then what does he do? He hits a home run in that at bat. Not only did it hit a home run, he destroyed that baseball. 113.7 exit velocity, 456 feet, back-to-back games with the home run for L.A. Dela Cruz. I just thought it was interesting, tracking the didn't hit a home run, then came back,

they tried to troll him, and then he just absolutely destroyed the ball. Yep. Guess he got the last laugh there. Well, the Reds wound up losing the game, so maybe not, but at least within the game at that point. It's an important division battle, too. It really is. Yeah. I think the Brewers are my least favorite division leader, like in terms of how good I think they are. So I'd like to see the Reds surpass them. Sorry to all the Brewers fans out there. I am now public enemy number one.

But you know what? You know, that's, I can't help but feel things. All right? Got to express my feelings from time to time. My wallet is feeling things too, Scott, because as soon as L.A. D.A. D.A.C. I called up. I bet on the Reds to win the division. So, yeah, I would love for that to happen. So we are a Reds podcast here, as many people have turned into. Look, it's a fun time. It's a fun team. All these young guys coming up and crushing baseball.

So we'll see. I think it's going to go down to the end of the season. You know, the Brewers have picked it up. They're playing good ball. Reds, you know, a little bit more rocky recently, but we'll see what happens with them. Starting pitcher questions, Scott, I think two of the bigger performances of the day, Kent Maida and Terrick Scouble. This is the first question I have.

Who would you rather have more rest of season? And let's just quickly remind people what they did. Terrick Scubel finally completed five innings for the first time this season. Five shutout with two hits allowed, zero walks, nine strikeouts up against the San Francisco Giants. Through four starts, he's got a 371 ERA, a 0.88 whip over a strikeout per inning, tons of ground balls. Everything looks great right now for Scoobl. He's up to 83% rostered. Just how deep is he going to go into his starts?

I think that's probably the biggest question. Kent and Maeda now has eight plus strikeouts in four of six starts since returning from the IL. He went six and a third innings, one run aloud, eight strikeouts with 15 swinging strikes. And in those six starts since returning a 248 ERA, 109 whip, 44 strikeouts over 32 and two-thirds innings. Scott, question number one, who would you rather have, Maeda or Scoobel? I like them both a lot. If it was up to me, I would not have either be as available as he currently is in CBS Sports League.

Scoobo is around 80%. So, you know, he's getting up there. But it's still too available, given how much of an impact I think he could have down the stretch. I'm going with Scoobel here. And it's for one reason, really, and it's just that Kenta Maeda, given his age, given his injury history.

I have less confidence in him holding up. I understand scoobo's coming off elbow surgery. He's still getting stretched out, so it's not like he's a model of health either. But I have more faith in him holding together than Maeda. But look, first of all, scubel, big sigh of relief with this start. You mentioned he has a 371 ERA since returning. All the damage came in his previous start.

So three of the four have been absolute gems, and then he had a terrible one. And his velocity, which was a big reason we all got excited about him, the jump of velocity on his rehab assignment, it had been declining little by little, got back up a little here in this fourth start and obviously turned in an amazing result again. So I think that alleviated, relieved or alleviated, many of my concerns, for Scoobel and I still have high hopes from going forward and then Kinta Maeda

I made reference to this number prior to the start so I'll give you the update now that the start is over if you remove the 10-run disaster that happened for Maida right before he went on the aisle with the triceps injury clearly it was impacted in that start I think it's totally fair to eliminate it if you remove that terrible start for Maeda

in his other nine he has a 296 ERA a 105 whip, 11K per 9. Those are numbers very similar to the ones that made him the AL-Sai-Young runner-up in 2020. And, you know, we all know the following year. He wasn't good, but he was dealing with a bad elbow that year.

So, you know, he looks like as healthy as we've seen him since that 2020 season and the numbers, it's shown up in the numbers. Yeah, I think it's really, really close between these two. I mean, Scoobel, I think you can argue there's more upside. There's more excitement. He's 26 years old versus Ken.

to Maeda who's 35 years old, nearly 10 years older than Terrick Scuba. And I think Scuba might be better on a per inning basis, but I think Maeda is more likely to deliver six innings, quality starts, and he pitches for the better team. So, man, it is close, but I think I would rather have Maida over Terrick Scuba moving forward. I don't know how many people actually have that question to answer. They're both up over 80% rostered on CBS, but I did just check on Yahoo and Scouble is 48% rostered there.

Kentimita 55%. So I know there's a lot of streaming and daily lineup leagues, but it kind of feels like you should just pick those guys up and hold on to them, and they should just be on your team in that format. Scott, I know you update your rankings here, usually on Tuesdays.

Where do you foresee Maeda and Scuba climbing up to in the SP rankings? Are we, you know, top 60? Are we, you know, verging on top 50 starting pitchers the rest of the season? Well, first of all, I've been doing it more like Wednesdays. lately.

Okay. So I just don't want to give anybody the wrong impression. Okay, so I already have Scoobla in my top 55 actually. Nice. Maida's down at 70th currently.

But I can move him up quite a bit. There's going to have to be a fair amount of rearranging here as there is every week in this big glob of starting pitchers that are tough to distinguish between. They might both be verging on top 50. You know, you got Kyle Braddish in that same range.

You got Andrew Abbott. Grayson Rodriguez probably needs to move up some. So it's always a bit of a, what have you done for me lately kind of game. But yeah, I mean, they both deserve to be rostered everywhere, I would say. Yeah, again, that is Turk Skoubel and Kentimaeata. Let's take our first break. And when we return, I've got two more starting pitcher questions,

John Gray and you Darvish. What are we doing with those two names? We'll find out right. after this. Welcome back and a quick reminder to download and follow our five minute podcast, fantasy baseball today in five. You can find it wherever you listen to this podcast. And we usually talk about the biggest performances of the night,

the biggest news, rankings, waiver wire ads, drops, all that fun stuff. So in addition to this podcast, five minute podcast, fantasy baseball today and five. If you're watching us live on YouTube, scan that QR code that will take you right to the FBT and five podcast feed. John Gray, he has been struggling big time ever since developing a blister back in June.

He did leave his previous start after getting hit on the shin with a comebacker, so just not sure how completely healthy John Gray is at this point. But Scott, we have a seven start stretch now where John Gray has a 649 ERA and a 179 whip, the dropometer. Where is John Gray on that dropometer? 7.5, I'd say. He's three quarters of the way up, not as dropable as some of the names we talked about yesterday, like Braxton Garrett and Ranger Suarez. But I drop John Gray for either of Terrick Scoubel or Kintamayeda or Grayson Rodriguez, for that matter.

The one positive thing I'll say about him is after a five-start stretch where he had just single-digit swinging strikes. He has double-digit swinging strikes. his last two. He had 14 on just 82 pitches in this one. Most coming on the slider, which he threw 63% of the time. That's more than twice as much as usual. So he's kind of feeling his way through things right now is John Gray changing things up to try and get a better result. And given how bad he was, I think that's for the best. But even while he's doing that, obviously hasn't gotten much better results apart from the swinging strikes. So it's, It's a very thin silver lining on that dark storm cloud. Would you drop John Gray for Christopher Sanchez, who we spoke about earlier? Nope. I can't see myself doing that. Would you drop him for two streamy types in Kyle Hendrix or Michael Lorenzen? I don't think I'd do that either unless my lineup depended on it. Yeah. I think that's probably right.

I think one of the adjustments I'll make to the starting pitcher ranks is that John Gray is going to move down below those names we were just talking about. So maybe he's more like a top 60, top 70 starting pitcher. Obviously, those other two names are moving on up ahead of John Gray. What is wrong with you, Darvish? Darvish made two strong starts coming out of the break and you think, okay, this is it. Maybe he's finally turning it on.

We'll get some consistency out of him in the second half. And then he gets rocked by the pirates here on Monday. four in a third inning, seven runs allowed, four homers allowed. That ties a career high for you Darvish and now stands at a 4.8 ERA on the season, a 131 whip. And you know, Scott, just looking up and down, all the metrics we normally do, it's just little things that have all kind of added up together and gotten worse from last year. A 311 BABIP compared to 250 last season, 3.2 walks per 9, compared to 1.7 last year.

The strand rate is down below his career mark. It's down compared to last year. So you just add all those things up and this is how we get to this point with you, Darvish. What is wrong? And would you be looking to buy low heading into people's trade deadlines? I wouldn't be looking to buy low.

I think it's just way too volatile. You Darvish is out of the circle of trust right now. A couple times a year, I read about this circle of trust at starting pitcher. I'm not as rigid as Robert De Niro's character and meet the parents. He says, you know, once you're out, you're out. There's no getting back in.

I'm not like that. I think you're in and out all the time. But Udarvish is out. And I don't even like... So as you pointed out, he was coming off two great starts seem to be back on track. And then he gets the pirates. So if you're just playing the matchups with him,

this is the time you start, Udarvish. And it goes about as disastrously as you kill. Good, giving up four home runs to that lineup. So I don't know. He's certainly not alone with regard to being volatile this year, with regard to having these blow-up starts when you least expect it. It's, as I mentioned with Dean Graemebert, it's kind of the theme at starting pitcher this year.

But his overall ERA is 480. It's not like he's that big of a strikeout pitcher anymore. It wasn't last year either. So I'm treating you Darvish as pretty fringy at this point. I can't imagine dropping him. I'm not saying that. But he's just, I don't know what to expect. I mean, part of the frustration is, remember, two years ago,

he had that horrendous second half where he had like a 650 ERA and then he bounced back with the 310 ERA last year. So he's just, he's been, he's defined by volatility already. and then you add all the weirdness of this season. I just have no idea what to expect from Darvish anymore. Yeah, it's kind of a microcosm of his entire career, right? Just on a year-to-year basis, it's which picture are we going to get when it comes to you, Darvish?

The one thing I'll point out is, if you are someone who likes to trust the process, then the ERA estimators, they still like you, Darvish, 377 FIP, 376 X-FIP, and a 357 XERA entering the start. So if you were buying those numbers, then you should be looking to buy low, keyword low, buy low on you Darvish moving forward. Let's move over to some hitters here, Scottie, and it's been a big July for the Detroit Tigers, maybe not collectively as a team, but it has been pretty good for their hitters.

Riley Green went three for four with a double and two runs scored, now batting 309 with a 937 OPS overall this year, but in 13 games since returning all in July. Riley Green is betting 370 with two home runs, up to 78% rostered. Spencer Torkelson, a name we talk about a lot, went 2 for 4 with an RBI, also in the month of July hitting 270 with four home runs, 14 RBI, and an 843 OPS, and Kerry Carpenter, the last one, 2 for 4 with 2 RBI, and so far in July, betting 281, 4 homers, 16 RBI, and an 885 OPS. I think Kerry Carpenter, we can leave him for five outfielder leagues for

now he doesn't play against left-handed pitching. But Scott Riley Green and Torkelson, these are former big-name prospects. They're kind of putting it all together at the right time here, putting it together. You know, both these guys kind of playing well at the same time. Do you think they need to be universally

rostered at this point? I mean, they're both still below 80%. What do you think about Riley Green and Torkelson? My nature reaction is to say yes because I am hopeful that they're figuring it out. You know, they both have high-quality contact in addition to putting up numbers recently.

I guess I hesitate because I'm looking at, I'm thinking in terms of points leagues, right? 78% is still pretty well-rastered. Presumably all roto leagues are covered with that. It's just, it's probably just the three outfielder points leagues where Riley Green might still be available. And, you know, looking at the last three weeks, 15 last week, four and a half, the week before 11 the week before that.

That's, you know, this is kind of a weird league page I'm looking at it actually where it wasn't, it wasn't the standard scoring periods. But the point is he hasn't scored a lot of points for hitting 370 since returning and he's in a bad lineup and he doesn't have great play discipline, which doesn't help. So he, in those shallower points leagues, Riley Green may be pretty fringy still. And so that would be the excuse not for him. for him not to be universally rostered,

but like I don't want to, I don't want to fixate on the negative when overall, I think, the takeaway for what he's doing here is positive. Yep. And oddly enough, entering Monday, both Riley Green and Torkelson were averaging 2.6 fantasy points per game on the season,

which, again, it's kind of fringy. It doesn't really blow you away, but the overall numbers are starting to climb here for both those guys. And, you know, maybe they're names that, I guess the numbers look better, than the actual production, if that makes sense. It's like maybe they hit for a solid batting average

and some modest power, but the lineup is going to hold them back in terms of counting stats. So I guess that's... I mean, I've really felt lineup context this year in a way I haven't normally between everybody and the Rangers lineup having ridiculous run in RBI totals and then what's going on with these two on the other end of the spectrum.

Mm-hmm. It's counted for a lot. I mean, I guess it always has less so with like star caliber players. Like you think of years past when Jose Ramirez had no line up around him and still produced like a first round bat. But obviously Torkelson and Riley Green aren't near that level. So they still depend a lot on their supporting cast to help them deliver an optimal fantasy outcome. All right.

Some other waiver wire hitters for corner infielders that I wrote down here, Wilmer Flores. Hey, Scott. You gave them out as a sleeper hitter. So far, so good. He hit his 13th home run here on Monday, now has five home runs in 10 second half games there for Wilmer Flores. Nolan Jones went two for four with his ninth home run,

and it came off of a lefty. I thought that was encouraging for Nolan Jones, up to a 35% strikeout rate, 49% ground ball rate as well. So he hits the ball hard. There are some troubling signs there with Nolan Jones, and it's really, you know, he goes through these stretches,

A tale of three seasons right now. You can break it down. First 24 games, next 13, and then his last eight games. I have the numbers here, and he's kind of all over the place right now. Jamer Candelario went 2 for 4 with his 16th home run. And Carlos Santana, three for four with a walk and a double dong for him. Scott, who would stand out at the top of this list? Wilmer Flores, Nolan Jones, Candelario, and Carlos Santana.

I think the most usable is Jamer Candelario. I don't know that that's going to last. I've been skeptical of his production, but his production is what it is here, almost August. So I would have to put him at the top of the list. Unfortunately, Nolan Jones, I think, needs to be categorized more with like a Kerry Carpenter than not, because his playing time has been very inconsistent recently as well.

It's not a strict lefty-righty thing with him, but the Rockies have a lot of outfielders they like to mix in, Brenton Doyle and Randall Gritchie. and they just haven't given that much priority to Jones here lately, which hasn't helped in addition to the sporadic production. So I don't know, I might prefer Carrie Carpenter at this point, actually. Carrie Carpenter over a Nolan Jones. Yeah.

Okay. The other name I have here as a Waverwire hitter, Caber Ruiz. He went two for four with a run and RBI. and over his last 17 games, he's betting 323 with three homers. Frankly, the power production has actually kind of surprised me this year for Cabot Ruiz. He is 51% rostered. I don't know that he is ever going to be a standout at the position, Scott.

I'm looking at the deep position right now. Yeah, I'm looking at the back end of the top 12. It's names like Tyler Stevenson and MJ Melendez, Alias Diaz. Would you move Caber Ruiz ahead of the? those names at this point. I have him behind Tyler Stevenson, but ahead of the other two. I believe he's my number 13 catcher right now. Yep, that is correct. That's exactly what I'm looking at. So, uh, look at you, Scott. You know your rankings. I don't know whether Chas McCormickbaths left or right handed, but I know my rankings. That you do. Let's get

into the news and notes. Astros manager, Dusty Baker said it is possible. Jose Al Tuvae can be activated without going out on a rehab assignment. Altuvae has been out since early July, with a left oblique strain. Yoridan Alvarez did not return on Monday, but the hope is for him to be activated on either Tuesday or Wednesday. Adolice Garcia has missed two straight after getting hit by a pitch on his right hand on Saturday.

He is currently day-to-day and should be able to avoid the IL. Brandon Woodruff will make his second rehab start at high A on Thursday before likely moving up to AAA, and it sounds like he could rejoin the Brewers in early August. So if you held on to Woodruff all year, hopefully he could stay healthy for the rest of the season and that would be a pretty big get into our lineups. Shane Bieber was transferred to the 60-day IL,

which means he cannot return until September 10th at the earliest. He is on the IL with right elbow inflammation. Clayton Kershaw is expected to throw a bullpen session on Tuesday. He'll likely be reevaluated after that to determine the next step in his rehab. Stalling Marte, who is on the aisle with migraines, will likely require just the minimum time. There's also a note that he's expecting a child at the end of the month,

so the report was basically that he could be back in early August. That is Starling Marte. Byron Buckson was placed on the paternity list, and Trevor Larnick was recalled by the twins. J.D. Martinez was out of the starting lineup on Monday with hamstring tightness, but expects to return on Tuesday. C.J. C.J. Cron has missed three straight with lower back tightness, but is, quote, getting closer to a return to the lineup. A name to watch around the trade deadline. There's been some chatter there about C.J. Cron.

Chris Bryant has missed two straight after getting hit by a pitch on his right index finger this past weekend. Ryan Helsley was transferred to the 60-day I.L., which means he'll be out until at least August 12th. So Jordan Hicks should remain the Cardinals closer until then, assuming he doesn't get traded as well. the Braves Scott your Braves making big moves they acquired Pierce Johnson from the Rockies

and Taylor Hearn Taylor Hearns Is it Hearns or Hearn? I think it's Hearns right? Taylor Hearns? I don't remember It's Hearn. No less.

Okay. Taylor Hearn, I wrote it correctly from the Rangers on Monday and just some back-in pieces they're looking to fortify the Braves bullpen. The latest trade rumors John Morosi of MLB Network reports that the Orioles

and Debecks are among teams that have inquired about Shohei Otani. I am sure they will not be the only teams, you know, asking around on Otani. I've heard, you know, Tampa Bay kind of thrown out there. We know that Dodgers are going to have major interests this offseason. And he is very clearly the biggest name to watch at the trade deadline. Mark Feinzand of MLB.com reports that the Reds have informed teams.

They are willing to trade Jonathan India, which I find pretty interesting. thing. Obviously, he's a young, controllable player. A couple of years ago, he was the NL rookie of the year, but they have all these names now. Encarnacio Tran, L.A. Delae Cruz, Matt McLean. They could all kind of slide one of those

names over, and they pretty much have their infield of the future. Scott, let me ask you this. If you have Jonathan India in a, honestly, either format, redraft or dynasty, would you look to try and trade him now because there's

a chance he won't have great American ball, park as his home park? I would consider it. Sure. I mean, he's having a great year, better year in fantasy, I would say, than in real life. So it's not a bad just like sell high situation anyway. Let me look up his career splits here because I don't know them offhand. But he is a guy who isn't thought to have like a lot of natural like raw power,

produces good home run totals for not having that. Home away. Home run count is basically dead even. 22 at home, 23 on the road. Much better batting average at home because of, you know, same difference in Babbup, much better Babbup at home as well. I don't know that that's necessarily a good Babbitt park

given how small it is, but I honestly don't know about that. Yeah, I don't know. it might not be as big of a deal as we're thinking it is but I unless he goes to Colorado which is not going to happen

I don't think there would be a better place for him to hit than he's currently playing so it's something to look into you like you don't want to be you don't want to like panic trade Jonathan India but you know if you have a good alternative at second base think maybe you could get a nice return for him it's something to consider sure You know, looking at the splits now, they're not as drastic as they thought. You pointed out the batting average and the home runs.

795 OPS career at home for Jonathan India, 749 on the road. So that's about as dead even as it gets, even with that great home park in Great American Ballpark. The last one last rumor we have written down here, John Heyman mentioned that teams have been asking the pirates on both David Bednar and Mitch Keller. So we'll see. Obviously, Bednar would be a huge addition for any team looking to gain a closer. And if they did that, I guess it would be, I don't know, one of Colin Holderman or Dari Maretta, you know, filling in for the Pirates Closer Roll. But that would be a pretty bad team without either of those names.

So not sure that it would matter much anyway. Let's take our final break. And when we return, Scott, I've got a bunch of rookie hitters we haven't talked about in quite a while. What do we do with those names? Let's find out right after the last. this. Welcome back and let's check in on some rookie hitters. We haven't talked about in a while. Luis Matos, what's going on there? He went one for three on Monday. He is batting 259 with one homer and three steals. The plate discipline looks great. 7% walk, 10% strikeout. Does not

swing and miss very much at all. But the power numbers, the quality of contact, not so great there, Scotty. 36% rostered on Luis Matos. that sounds about right, right? Yeah. No, he hasn't impacted the ball well at all. We contact. I made a big deal of him when he called up and I feel stupid about it because it's just not.

It's not impactful contact. A lot of it, but not impactful. Yeah, that is true. 24th percentile max EV on Luis Matos. And, you know, frankly, I thought he would be faster than he is. 26th percentile sprint speed. The XBA is 290 for Luis Mato. So he's a name, I think you can hold on.

Parting two of every three games too. It's not like he's even playing every day. Yeah, that doesn't help. You know, Giants get a giant, even when they have a prospect getting called up here. So 36% roster, that sounds about right. Oscar Coloss, 13 games since returning to the White Sox. He is batting 233 with zero home runs,

one steel, two caught steel, Zero walks and a 36% strikeout rate. He did start against their most recent lefty that they faced, but hasn't looked pretty, hasn't looked great here either. Scott, 21% roster for Coloss. That probably sounds about right as well. Yep. Not terribly enthused about him either.

Let's get into the Baltimore Orioles. We haven't talked about these two in a while. Colton Couser went one for three with a double and an RBI on Monday. he is batting 128 with zero homer, zero steals, and a 440 OPS. The plate discipline has been totally fine for a rookie, which is pretty impressive. 14% walk rate, 18% strikeout rate. The problem, not hitting the ball very hard and tons of ground balls, 55% ground ball rate.

Scott Colton Couser is still 44% rostered. If you picked him up in a five outfielder leagues, you start to consider dropping him now. it's not unthinkable I have higher hopes for him than I do either Matos or Coloss hasn't been nearly as long he's a higher caliber prospect to begin with

such a small sample it's hard to draw any conclusions from the data really I think the main thing that's holding me back on Kalser is just the Orioles are not giving him full run they're sitting him against lefties and it's going to be hard

for him to really find his footing in the majors if that continues. You know, we feared that would happen for Gunner Henderson when he got called up last year because his minor league numbers against lefties were bad and it didn't. But they're not giving cows

to the same leash. May, you know, their place in the standings may have something to do with it first place, trying to tend off the raise after overtaking them. but it's not helping Kouser's fantasy value right now. That's for sure. Worth pointing out that Aaron Hicks did leave on Monday with an injury,

so perhaps they just won't have a choice, and they'll just have to play Colton Kouser every day moving forward, but we shall see. His teammate, Jordan Westbury, went one for three with his first career home run on Monday and has only started two of their past five games. Once was against a lefty, the other was against a righty,

and he's actually, you know, been fine. 266 batting average, one homer, one steal, a 757 OPS here for Jordan Westberg. He's got the multiposition eligibility on CBS. He's still 45% rostered. Scott, are you more inclined to hold on to Westberg because of all the names we've mentioned so far, he's the one performing best? Playing time hasn't been all that consistent for him either. No.

So, I mean, I prefer him to, I think there's, mortal hold out hope for there than with Luis Matos or Oscar Coloss, but I'm not terribly committed to Westberg at this point either. I'd rank him behind Kouser of this group. Okay. We haven't talked about Anthony Volpe in a while, Scott, and on the season, he is giving you power and speed. 13 home runs, 17 steals, but that comes with a 209 batting average, a 29% strikeout rate, and looked like he was coming around in June. He had, I actually had a pretty strong month. And now here in July, he's back below 200,

197 batting average. Does have three home runs. But, you know, it's been a very up and down rookie season here, Scott for Anthony Volpe. He is still 80% rostered. Is it time, you know, for us to start dropping Anthony Volpe? I mean, it shouldn't be 80% rostered. Yeah.

I think at this point, you got to swap him out for C.J. Abrams, at least. If you haven't missed the boat on Hassan Kim yet, who home are twice here on Monday. Yeah, his numbers are nutty over the last, I think since like mid-June. Then you got to make that switch too. Kim at this point is more rostered than Volpe, but that doesn't mean he's rostered in every league. That doesn't mean every league where Volpey is rostered Kim isn't necessarily, obviously.

So I'd certainly make that switch. Volpe just kind of seems like a desperate. exploration play at shortstop at this point. Next up we have Spencer Sear, and obviously we're not dropping Spencer Sear. It's been a magical rookie season for him. He's 98% rostered. He's first, third, and outfield eligibility. But he has slowed down here in July, batting 250, which is one home run, a 614 OPS. And someone pointed out to me, he is much better against left-handed pitching so far this year, a 958 OPS compared to 769 against

righty. So with all the names in Cincinnati, Scott, I do kind of worry that maybe Stier is the name that kind of gets squeezed out a little bit more often and, you know, they play them against left-handed pitching. I hope I'm wrong, but do you have any concerns about that happening moving forward? Well, let's see here. So he was in the lineup again today. So yeah, that hasn't happened yet since in Carnacian Stran got the call Steer has only been out of the line of

one time you do wonder if that could change they've been open to playing him in left field but outfield is crowded for them too with the emergence of Will Benson so it's not like it's not like that freeze things up

that much sticking Spencer steer out there so yeah I mean if this continues much longer and everyone else is hitting well, it's feasible that that could happen, that Steer could be the odd man out when the going gets tough and the tough get going. But let's not put the car before the horse.

I pointed out, Steer has kind of struggled here in July. He does have multiple hits in three of his last four games. So it looks like maybe he's coming out of it recently. Again, that is Spencer Steer. Scott, how many? of these names would you drop for Sal Freelick, who went one for three with a walk and his first career home run on Monday. Not like he crushed it or anything. We know the deal. You know,

seems like it's going to be modest power here for Sal Freelich. 98.3 exit velocity, 384 feet. It was a home run in 30 out of 30 ballparks. I will point that out. But his first three games, he's got five hits. He's got a homer, three runs, three RBI. He's now hit cleanup in back-to-back games. Would you be willing to drop everybody not named Spencer Stier to pick up South Relic? Let me just revisit here.

Yeah, I would, the closest call is with Kouser, who I do think has more upside, but given the playing time disparity between the two of them, I would swap Kouser out for Freelich, sure. I think Tuesday's a big day too, Scott, because the

Brewers are in line to face Andrew Abbott, who's a left-handed pitcher. and I am very interested to see if South Freelik is going to be in the lineup because they haven't faced the lefty yet. So I think that's going to be very telling for his playing time moving forward. But the way that he's hit so far, he made some awesome catches over the weekend too. I would guess he's going to be in the lineup, but we shall see on Tuesday. Lastly, on this group, Scott, rookie hitters, lots of it.

A lot of it is very small sample size. Are you actually worried about any of these names that I mentioned from a dynasty perspective? Ooh, dynasty. So you obviously give a lot more leeway in dynasty development is sometimes slow. And particularly in recent years, we've seen players struggle at first before catching on later. Josh Young is a good example of that. I mean, even trusting CASIS to an extent. So, cows are not at all worried.

Westberg, not at all worried. Volpe, not really worried. Steer not worried, of course. I think the top two on this list, Matos and Colos, they're the ones who worry me. I don't, I mean, Matos is so young, 21, and what was he hitting at AAA before he got called up, like 360? You know, part of his issue may just be that he was hitting,

oh, he was hitting almost 400 at AAA, 350 overall between double and AAA. Part of Luis Matos issue is that he may have, just been moved faster than was advisable. And so, you know, I don't want to totally dump them, but the exit velocities are so bad. I just wonder, I just wonder how high the ceiling actually is. Is he going to be a Stephen Kwan without the steals? Because I'm not sure I'm all that interested in that. Yep.

So I wouldn't put a lot of value on him in Dynasty, Luis Matos, and Colos. Colos, I believe, has more power. That's supposed to be his best tool, in fact. And after a slow, it was slow going when he returned to the miners earlier this year and caught firelight. It looked more like the Oscar Coloss we saw in the miners last year. But since coming back, obviously, hasn't done anything. He's already 24. It's going to be 25 before the season is over.

So he's an older guy, at least among the caliber of player we're talking about here. He's at a point where he needs to make some headway soon to have a future as a major league regular, I would say. I would say stocked down for him in dynasty leagues. Not necessarily dropping him. It depends how deep your dynasty league is. but I'm certainly less excited about him than I was at the start of the year. I think post-trade deadline is going to tell us a lot about Oscar Coloss and his dynasty value because the White Sox are going to be sellers, or at least they should be.

And there should be nothing in his way of playing time, hitting in the middle of that lineup, and just letting him go and seeing what he could do the rest of the season. And frankly, if he kind of falls flat, I think that's going to say a lot about, you know, Oscar Coloss and his ability in the big leagues, but we'll see over the final couple months of the season. Let's wrap up with some leftovers here, and we'll start with the pitching. We've got one good and one not so good.

Luis Castillo, a strong start at the Twins, seven innings to runs nine strikeouts with 18 swinging strikes in that start. And Logan Allen, they're not so good. He didn't pitch as well as we had hoped up against the Royals. He went seven innings, but he allowed five runs. Four of those were earned.

He gave up two home runs as well. Seven hard hits in this game. Seems like something was off with the pitch makes in this one. He kind of faded his change up. I don't think he just did not have a feel for that pitch whatsoever, and it's one of his better pitches. So, you know, obviously that didn't work out very well here. Four Logan Allen.

It's got any thoughts here on him and Luis Castillo. I don't see how anything changes in terms of how I approach them in fantasy. Yeah, I mean, I hoped for better against Allen. He did go seven innings, which is nice. But he strikes me as a pretty fringy pitcher, at least at this stage of his career. All right. The hitting leftovers, Christian Yelich went one for three with two walks and his 22nd steel. Also hit a walk-off RBI single in a very important game and series against the Cincinnati Reds.

And if it wasn't for a certain gentleman named Ronald Acuna, then we might. actually have a discussion about Yelich, you know, being involved in the NL MVP race, the way that he's played this year, but there is no discussion because Ronald Acuna has been otherworldly. Hassan Kim had that double dong, as we mentioned earlier, with three RBI in that game as well. Some bullpen updates here for the Orioles, Felix Bautista and Yaneer Kanoe were both unavailable, so Conell Perez picked up his first save of the season. For Kansas City, Scott Barlow allowed two hits, but picked up his 12th save. For the twins, Yoan Duran was unavailable.

So Griffin Jacks got the ninth inning with a one-run lead. He promptly gave up a two-run homer to Colton Wong, took the blown save there. For the Mariners, Andres Munoz got the ninth inning with a one-run lead. He gave up one run, took his first blown save. Paul Seawald would enter in the 10th. He gave up two hits, and the Manfred Man scored from second. So Seawall took his first loss of the season. Scott, do you find it weird?

that they used Andres Munoz in the bottom of the ninth inning with a one-run lead instead of Paul Seawald in this game? That jerked me is a little weird. A little weird. It's not the first time they've done that since Munoz has come off the I.L. So I wouldn't freak out about it. But certainly in the past, Scott Service has not been afraid to mix it up in the ninth inning. So I can't guarantee you that. that Seawald's,

that Seawald still has a firm hold on that role. I suspect it still is, but can't guarantee it. By the way, Freddie Freeman would totally be ahead of Christian Yellich in the MVP race too, and probably mooky bats. Yeah. After I said it, I was like, yeah, you know, Corbyn Carroll is up there too, obviously. He would be top five. I think he would be top five if we're just kind of setting it out there.

I just, it's been an awesome season. So, you know, want to give a nice little shout out there to Christian Yelich. Texas Rangers, Aroldus Chapman entered in the seventh inning with that three-run lead at the time to face the heart of the Astros lineup. He would give up a three-run homer to Chas McCormick, so that was not ideal for Chapman. For the Diamondbacks, more trouble in paradise. Andrew Chafin entered in the ninth inning with a one-run lead. He was charged with five runs. He originally gave up two runs.

He was relieved by Kevin Ginkle, who, uh, you know, had all those inherited runners. He gave up a bases clearing double to Tyler O'Neill at the time. And I haven't seen any explanation for this cop, but Kevin Ginkle had pitched well recently. I think he had the last two saves for the debacks. Why didn't they start the ninth inning with him in a one-run game instead of Andrew Chafin, who, frankly, has not pitched well for a while now.

So it's just confusing. I don't know. Well, let's look at who the... Cardinals had due up doesn't look like a bunch of lefties I will say yeah Kevin Ginkle did get the last two saves he was pretty shaky in that second appearance against the Braves I watched it

and I think he gave up a run and came pretty close to blowing it so I don't know that he has I don't know how much trust he's earned in that role probably has more than Andrew Chaffin at this point particularly even how this appearance went,

but I'm holding on to Scott McGuff in leagues where saves are scarce. I'll just put it that way. I'm not saying I'm not adding Ginkle in those leagues, but I'm not willing to let go of McGuff. I think the answer is, if the debacks are serious about competing this year, they have to make a trade because it is just not working.

They need someone with more experience. I don't, maybe there's just not a name out there. I know Scott Barlow is probably the most likely name to be moved, but... I mean, Josh Hader's a free agent after the year, and the Padres are currently below 500. Doesn't necessarily mean they'll be sellers. Well, we mentioned David Bednar's name.

He would be awesome. He would require, because he has so many years of team control left, he would require a lot, probably. Yep. But it's possible. For the Blue Jays, that game actually just went final in 11-ennings. Jordan Romano, clean 11th inning for his 28th save of the season. To stream or not to stream, Scottie, Tuesday, we have Griffin Canning at the Tigers,

Edward Cabrera at the Rays, Kyle Hendrix at the White Sox. I think he's fine. I think those are my top three. Canning Cabrera Hendricks. I agree. On Wednesday, who do we? have here. Seth Lugo versus the Pirates. I think that's pretty good. I think Gavin Williams versus the Royals, though he is dealing with a blister apparently, so hopefully everything's good there. By far his best start as a major leagueer so far came against the Royals earlier this

year. But I don't like the blister. Yeah. I think the last name on this list is going to be Michael Lorenzen versus the Angels in a revenge game. Yeah, I don't think I want to stick my neck out for Bin Lively at Milwaukee. Though it's a little bit tempting. Right. All right. So again, on Wednesday, we've got who was it, Lugo, Gavin Williams, and Michael Lorenzen in that order for me. Team name to Jose Cantana at the Yankees isn't so bad either.

Yeah, actually, that's a very deep-rooted revenge game, Scott. I think he started in the Yankees farm system way back in the day. Oh. There you go. Nice little fun. Fun fact there on Jose Cantano. Team name Tuesday, and these first couple are from Twitter. And this one is from my buddy.

Ben Tid. He's a good player. He plays over at the NFFSC. We're in the same event league. And I don't know. He said this is a staple from our childhood. I don't know what it is, guy. Maybe you know.

Kissing Cade Marlowe. What is that? I don't know. I tried to search it up. I couldn't find anything, man. Kissing Cade Marlowe. I think he's going to be pretty disappointed to me if he listens this far.

Sorry. Yeah. Don't know anything about it. This one's from Saves Tuesday. Give me an Ellie, yeah. All righty. That's for my wrestling audience out there, Stone Cold.

From Smoke Signal. And he has Bombie Apocalypse. Mm-hmm. Mm. Hmm. Mm. Hmm. Do you know who El Bombie is, Scott?

No, I was just trying to play it off. That is Adelis Garcia. This one is from John Mack, and he sent in Sister Christian Walker, Texas Ranger. Now, Sister Christian is a song released in the 1980s. And obviously, Walker, Texas Ranger, you know, Chuck Norris. I just don't know what the correlation is. It's a bit convoluted. Sister Walker, Sister Christian Walker, Texas Ranger.

I don't know. And the next one is To the Windows Taylor Walls He's pretty good Pretty good From Timmy Wu Lang Clan

Ain't nothing to puck wit Wow That is a jumble We've got four players in there All right I've seen I've seen worse And you've got to You've got to be really

You gotta be really careful With that one too Back to the emails from Bernard Enter the Wu Chang McClanahan We get That going on there Three names as well

Uh huh You Chang Brian Wu Shane McClainahan Uh Bake burger Which I don't A note here

I don't know if you've Are up to date on this Adam Azer The latest Azer take On the football podcast I haven't talked to Adam Azer In like three years Ah damn you left the podcast

And that was that That was that There's some kind of controversy. Burgers? Yeah, he, he bakes his burgers in the oven. And he says,

they're the best burgers he's ever had, so I don't know. My wife does that with turkey burgers. Turkey burgers are underrated. That's the word I'll use.

I like turkey burgers. Do you like them baked in the oven? I usually just throw it in a frying pan, so that's how I make it. This last one is one,

Bregman, one stot, one beer. Okay. Which is from I don't know, some classic song. One bourbon, one shot, one beer, but whatever. Let's move on. From Tom, these three, Maka, wait, Waka Miles in my shoester.

It's not bad for having that many names in it. If loving Kyle is right, I don't want Colton Wong. Okay. I don't mind that either. A bird in Brad Hand is worth two in Matt Bush. So he tried to stick Jason Worth. here in the year in the year 2023

because he spelled W-E-R-T-H I think that's a Marlin bird spelling as well B-Y-R-D Uh there are

Is there another bird with B-Y-R-D I feel like I thought there was no it doesn't look like there is currently there's a Grayson bird in the Cubs system

Yeah good old Marlin bird Real throwback here from Tom I liked Marlin bird Yeah solid ball player From Zach

I'm choking I need the Heim Lee Kwan Ober. Is that supposed to be Heimlich maneuver? I'm choking. I need the Heim Le Quine over. It's supposed to be. It's all downhill after Heim.

Yeah, yep, yep. This next one, I'm a Lazardo by B, so why don't you kill us me. And this last one from Zach, a Ken Yuri in the coal mine. Canyri in the coal mine.

Jeez. All right. All right, Zach. From Isaac in Minneapolis. Homicidal Moniac. I like simple ones like that. Nice and simple. From Trevor.

Ellie, Ellie Oxen Free. No idea what this is. You play hide and seek and you. When do you say that? Is it when everybody's back at home base and when everybody's made it back to base and you need to let the person who's it know that, or is the person who's it say that after they're done counting?

I don't remember what context it comes up. It's not really my, you know, that's not how we played hide and seek when we were kids. But I have heard it before. Yeah, Trevor pointed out, it's from playing hide and seek, but I have never heard that term a single time in my life. From Terry. And he says, think Billy Idol.

This is one for Chris Sowers. when Robert yell. Ah, rebel yell? I think that's what he's going for. Okay. Yeah. You're a big Billy Idol fan, Scott? Can't say that I am.

All right, we're going to wrap there. I would say, let's go with mixed bag. That's how I'll describe today's team name Tuesday. For Scott, I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning in to fantasy baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify. We'll be back. again tomorrow. Bye bye!